TERMINAL MODULE AND CONNECTOR
A terminal module (10) includes an electrical contact member (11) having a coil holding surface (12F) configured to face a contact surface (62F) provided on a mating terminal (61), a conductive obliquely wound coil spring (21) and a holder (31) configured to hold the obliquely wound coil spring (21) by being assembled with the electrical contact member (11). The holder (31) includes a holder body (32) configured to hold the obliquely wound coil spring (21) along the coil holding surface (12F) and having a window portion (35) configured to expose the obliquely wound coil spring (21) toward a side opposite to the coil holding surface (12F), and locking pieces (39) continuous from the holder body (32) and configured to engage the electrical contact member (11).
This specification relates to a terminal module and a connector.
Related ArtJapanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2008-204634 discloses a contact device in which two conductors are connected electrically using a coil spring in an energizing part of an electrical device. This contact device includes a spring contact (obliquely wound coil spring) formed by spirally winding a wire into a state inclined with respect to a winding axis, and two conductors fittable to each other. A groove into which the spring contact is to be fit is provided in a fitting surface of one of the two conductors. When the two conductors are fit, the spring contact is sandwiched between the two conductors to connect the two conductors electrically.
In the above configuration, it is necessary to provide the groove in the conductor by cutting and weld both ends of the spring contact to the conductors. Therefore, a configuration and a manufacturing process tend to be complicated.
SUMMARYA terminal module disclosed in this specification includes an electrical contact member having a coil holding surface configured to face a contact surface provided on a mating terminal, a conductive obliquely wound coil spring, and a holder configured to hold the obliquely wound coil spring by being assembled with the electrical contact member. The holder includes a holder body configured to hold the obliquely wound coil spring along the coil holding surface and including an opening configured to expose the obliquely wound coil spring toward a side opposite to the coil holding surface. An engaging portion is continuous from the holder body and is configured to engage the electrical contact member.
Further, a connector disclosed in this specification includes the terminal module configured as described above.
According to the above configurations, the obliquely wound coil spring is sandwiched between and connects the mating terminal and the electrical contact member when the mating terminal and the electrical contact member are brought close. Thus, the coil spring can be held on the electrical contact member by a simple configuration and a manufacturing process can be simplified.
In the above configuration, the holder body may be displaceable in directions toward and away from the coil holding surface. More particularly, the obliquely wound coil spring has a nonlinear region where a spring load hardly changes even if a height (dimension in a direction perpendicular to a coil axis) of the spring is changed. In this nonlinear region, even if the height of the obliquely wound coil spring changes due to assembling tolerances, vibration during use and the like, a spring load hardly changes. Thus, by making the holder displaceable, the assembling tolerances can be absorbed effectively utilizing this nonlinear region and without affecting electrical connection between the electrical contact member and the mating terminal. Further, an influence on contact resistance due to a movement of the mating terminal can be suppressed.
The holder may include a displacement restricting portion configured to restrict a displacement of the holder body in the direction toward the coil holding surface by butting against the coil holding surface. According to this configuration, it is possible to avoid excessive squeezing of the obliquely wound coil spring and plastic deformation of the obliquely wound coil spring such as when an impact is applied to the connector.
The engaging portion may include a deflecting piece extending from the holder body and deflectable in a direction intersecting an extending direction from the holder body and a locking projection projecting from the deflecting piece and configured to lock the electrical contact member. Additionally, the connector housing may include a deflection restricting wall configured to restrict the deflection of the deflecting piece in a direction to be disengaged from the electrical contact member by interfering the deflecting piece. According to this configuration, even if an external force is applied to the holder during a connecting operation of the connector to a mating connector and during the use of the connector, inadvertent detachment of the holder from the electrical contact member can be avoided.
According to the terminal module and the connector disclosed in this specification, the obliquely wound coil spring can be held by a simple configuration and a simple manufacturing process.
An embodiment is described with reference to
As shown in
The electrical contact member 11 is an L-shaped plate-like member formed by press-working a plate member made of a conductive material such as copper alloy and includes, as shown in
As shown in
As shown in
As shown in
As shown in
Each of the holding walls 36 is a wall portion arranged parallel to the short side wall 34S with a clearance defined therebetween as shown in
Each of the holding shafts 37 is a shaft portion for holding the obliquely wound coil spring 21. As shown in
The bottom wall portion 33 includes a window portion 35 (equivalent to an opening). As shown in
As shown in
As shown in
The obliquely wound coil spring 21 is accommodated inside the holder 31 and held not to come off the holder 31 by having the pair of holding shafts 37 inserted inside as shown in
As shown in
As shown in
A distance from a base end of the deflecting piece 39B (end edge connected to the holder body 32) to the locking projection 39P is longer than a thickness of the terminal connecting portion 12, and the deflecting piece 39B is displaceable in a direction perpendicular to the terminal connecting portion 12 between a position where the locking projections 39P butt against the terminal connecting portion 12 (position shown in
With the holder 31 assembled with the terminal connecting portion 12, the obliquely wound coil spring 21 is in contact with the coil holding surface 12F and sandwiched by the holder body 32 and the terminal connecting portion 12. In a state where no pressing force is applied to the holder 31, the holder 31 is held at the position where the locking projections 39P butt against the terminal connecting portion 12 (position where the holder body 32 is most distant from the terminal connecting portion 12; position shown in
As shown in
The upper divided body 41 includes a mounting plate 42 in the form of a flat plate and three terminal receiving portions 44 projecting from one surface (lower surface of
Three insertion holes (not shown) through which the external connecting portions 13 are insertable are provided side by side in the mounting plate 42 and, as shown in
As shown in
Each terminal receiving portion 44 includes four accommodation grooves 45 for respectively receiving the four locking pieces 39. Each of the four accommodation grooves 45 is a groove recessed toward the mounting plate 42 from the terminal contact surface 44F and is a groove defined by a groove bottom wall 45B parallel to the terminal contact surface 44F and two groove-side walls (deflection restricting wall 45R and facing wall 45S) extending to the terminal contact surface 44F perpendicularly from the groove bottom wall 45B and arranged to face each other with a clearance formed therebetween as shown in
The lower divided body 51 is a flat rectangular tube-like member open on both ends. An internal space of the lower divided body 51 is divided into three holder accommodation chambers 53 by two partition walls 52 as shown in
In assembling the terminal modules 10 with the connector housing 40, three terminal modules 10 are first assembled with the upper divided body 41. The external connecting portion 13 of each terminal module 10 is inserted through the insertion hole and the insertion tube 43 to bring the terminal connecting portion 12 into contact with the terminal contact surface 44F. Tip parts of the four locking pieces 39 projecting from the terminal connecting portion 12 are respectively accommodated into the four accommodation grooves 45 as shown in
Subsequently, the lower divided body 51 is assembled with the upper divided body 41, thereby holding the terminal modules 10. The respective three terminal receiving portions 44 and the holder bodies 32 and the obliquely wound coil springs 21 of the respective three terminal modules 10 are accommodated into the three holder accommodation chambers 53 (see
As shown in
As shown in
The mating connector housing 63 is made of synthetic resin and integrally formed with the three mating terminals 61 by insert molding. As shown in
Each of the three terminal blocks 65 is a rectangular block having a short height and projecting from the mating mounting plate 64, and the contact portion 62 of the corresponding one of the three mating terminals 61 is placed on the terminal block 65. In the contact portion 62, a surface opposite to the terminal block 65 serves as a contact surface 62F to be brought into contact with the obliquely wound coil spring 21 when the connector 1 and the mating connector 60 are assembled as shown in
In assembling the connector 1 with the mating connector 60, the three terminal blocks 65 and the three contact portions 62 of the mating connector 60 are respectively inserted into the three holder accommodation chambers 53, and the contact portions 62 contact parts of the obliquely wound coil springs 21 projecting from the window portions 35 as shown in
When the connector 1 and the mating connector 60 are brought even closer to bring the contact portions 62 and the terminal connecting portions 12 closer in this connected state, the contact portions 62 come into contact with the bottom wall portions 33 while pushing the obliquely wound coil springs 21 into the holder bodies 32 through the window portions 35. As the contact portions 62 and the terminal connecting portions 12 are brought even closer, the contact portions 62 press the bottom wall portions 33 and the holder bodies 32 are displaced toward the terminal connecting portions 12. Associated with this, the obliquely wound coil springs 21 are deformed to further tilt the winding wires with respect to the coil axes L against resilient forces thereof (see
With the connector 1 and the mating connector 60 completely connected, the obliquely wound coil springs 21 are used in the nonlinear regions. In this nonlinear region, even if a height of the obliquely wound coil spring 21 changes due to a change in relative distance between the contact portion 62 and the terminal connecting portion 12 caused by assembling tolerances of the connector 1 and the mating connector 60, vibration and the like, a spring load hardly changes. Thus, the assembling tolerances of the connector 1 and the mating connector 60 can be absorbed without affecting electrical connection. Further, an influence on contact resistance due to a movement of the mating terminal 61 can be suppressed.
Note that the holder body 32 is stopped at a position where the displacement restricting portions 38 butt against the coil holding surface 12F, thereby preventing the obliquely wound coil spring 21 from being excessively squeezed. In this way, plastic deformation of the obliquely wound coil spring 21 such as when an impact is applied to the connector 1 can be avoided.
As described above, according to this embodiment, the terminal module 10 includes the electrical contact member 11 having the coil holding surface 12F configured to face the contact surface 62F provided on the mating terminal 61, the conductive obliquely wound coil spring 21 and the holder 31 configured to hold the obliquely wound coil spring 21. The holder 31 includes the holder body 32 and the locking pieces 39. The holder body 32 is a part for holding the obliquely wound coil spring 21 along the coil holding surface 12F and includes the window portion 35 configured to expose the obliquely wound coil spring 21 toward the side opposite to the coil holding surface 12F. The locking pieces 39 are pars continuous from the holder body 32 and configured to engage the electrical contact member 11.
According to the above configuration, the obliquely wound coil spring 21 to be sandwiched between the mating terminal 61 and the electrical contact member 11 to connect the both when the mating terminal 61 and the electrical contact member 11 are brought closer can be held on the electrical contact member 11 by a simple configuration and a manufacturing process can be simplified.
Further, the holder body 32 is displaceable in the directions toward and away from the coil holding surface 12F.
Here, the obliquely wound coil spring 21 has the nonlinear region where a spring load hardly changes even if the height (dimension in the direction perpendicular to the coil axis L) of the spring is changed. In this nonlinear region, even if the height of the obliquely wound coil spring 21 changes due to a change in relative distance between the contact portion 62 and the terminal connecting portion 12 caused by the assembling tolerances of the connector 1 and the mating connector 60, vibration during use and the like, a spring load hardly changes. Thus, by making the holder body 32 displaceable, the assembling tolerances of the connector 1 and the mating connector 60 can be absorbed effectively utilizing this nonlinear region and without affecting electrical connection between the electrical contact member 11 and the mating terminal 61. Further, an influence on contact resistance due to a movement of the mating terminal 61 can be suppressed.
Further, the holder 31 includes the displacement restricting portions 38 configured to restrict a displacement of the holder body 32 in the direction toward the coil holding surface 12F by butting against the coil holding surface 12F.
According to the above configuration, it is possible to avoid excessive squeezing of the obliquely wound coil spring 21 and plastic deformation of the obliquely wound coil spring 21 such as when an impact is applied to the connector 1.
In addition, the locking piece 39 includes the deflecting piece 39B extending from the holder body 32 and deflectable in a direction intersecting an extending direction from the holder body 32 and the locking projection 39P projecting from the deflecting piece 39B and configured to lock the electrical contact member 11, and the connector housing 40 includes the deflection restricting walls 45R configured to restrict the deflection of the deflecting pieces 39B in a direction to be disengaged from the electrical contact member 11 by interfering with the deflecting pieces 39B.
According to the above configuration, inadvertent detachment of the holder 31 from the electrical contact member 11 can be avoided even if an external force is applied to the holder 31 during a connecting operation of the connector 1 to the mating connector 60 and during the use of the connector 1.
The invention is not limited to the above described and illustrated embodiment. For example, the following various modes also are included.
Although the holder 31 is made of synthetic resin in the above embodiment, a holder may be made of a conductive material such as metal.
Although the holder body 32 of the holder 31 is displaceable toward or away from the coil holding surface 12F in the above embodiment, a holder may not be displaceable.
The number of the terminal modules 10 held in the connector housing 40 is not limited to that of the above embodiment and may be two or less or four or more.
LIST OF REFERENCE SINGS
- 1 connector
- 10 terminal module
- 11 electrical contact member
- 12F . . . coil holding surface
- 21 obliquely wound coil spring
- 31 holder
- 32 holder body
- 35 window portion (opening)
- 38 displacement restricting portion
- 39 locking piece (engaging portion)
- 39B . . . deflecting piece
- 39P . . . locking projection
- 40 . . . connector housing
- 45R . . . deflection restricting wall
- 51 mating terminal
- 52 contact surface
Claims
1. A terminal module, comprising:
- an electrical contact member having a coil holding surface configured to face a contact surface provided on a mating terminal;
- a conductive obliquely wound coil spring; and
- a holder configured to hold the obliquely wound coil spring by being assembled with the electrical contact member;
- the holder including:
- a holder body configured to hold the obliquely wound coil spring along the coil holding surface and including an opening configured to expose the obliquely wound coil spring toward a side opposite to the coil holding surface;
- an engaging portion continuous from the holder body and configured to engage the electrical contact member; and
- the holder body being displaceable in directions toward and away from the coil holding surface.
2. (canceled)
3. The terminal module of claim 1, wherein the holder includes a displacement restricting portion configured to restrict a displacement of the holder body in the direction toward the coil holding surface by butting against the coil holding surface.
4. A connector, comprising:
- the terminal module of claim 1 or 3; and
- a connector housing configured to hold the terminal module.
5. The connector of claim 4, wherein:
- the engaging portion includes a deflecting piece extending from the holder body and deflectable in a direction intersecting an extending direction from the holder body and a locking projection projecting from the deflecting piece and configured to lock the electrical contact member; and
- the connector housing includes a deflection restricting wall configured to restrict the deflection of the deflecting piece in a direction to be disengaged from the electrical contact member by interfering the deflecting piece.
Type: Application
Filed: Jun 20, 2017
Publication Date: Aug 8, 2019
Patent Grant number: 10622743
Inventors: Akio Kimura (Yokkaichi, Mie), Seido Nishijima (Yokkaichi, Mie)
Application Number: 16/314,741